It was beautiful fall morning. Harry woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the day since it was Harry's first day off in weeks and he decided to spend it with his family. But his family had different plans. Ginny wanted to go shopping for new materials for her work and for groceries. James and Al, being mama's boys, wanted to come along with her. Lily was nowhere to be seen. Soon, Harry found himself waving good bye to his beloved wife as she drove away to the village with James and Al to run errands. Harry smiled as gently shuts the front door and starts looking for his youngest child. Lily had a habit of hiding from her parents as it was a fun game for her since she was 3. Harry would often play with her in her game during his days off.
He started his hunt in Lily's bedroom but it was empty. He looked for her in the kitchen, the living room, in his sons' rooms, and even in the backyard. But Lily was nowhere to be seen.
"Lily-loo. Where are you? Come out Come Out wherever you are" he said in a singsong in order to coax Lily out wherever she was hiding. He heard a giggle from the master bedroom. Smirking, he slowly creep towards the room and prepared to surprise her. He slightly opened the door and peeked.
To his horror, he saw a huge mess instead. Inside, Harry saw Ginny's makeup scattered on the floor. The liquid foundation spilled on the wooden floor. The blush cracked and left dust all over the carpet. Broken eyebrow pencils and multiple beauty blenders strewn across the room. Fingerprints and handprints of dust and powder of different colours were on every surface of the bed, floor and Ginny's make up drawer.
Sitting in the middle of the mess is his daughter, Lily. The little 6 year old was using a powder brush on her cheeks and applied blush on her face. Harry's mouth fell as he opened the door suddenly which startled Lily.
"Daddy!" Lily said with smile as she continued to apply makeup. Harry looked around and saw most of the mess was centred around Lily and Ginny's Makeup area looked like it was robbed. Harry turned his attention to his daughter and with a pained expression he said, "Lily Luna Potter, what did you do?"
"Being pretty" Lily answered brightly as she set down the brush and blush. She looked at Harry with a cute expression and smile shyly. "Is Lily pretty, Daddy?" she asked while fluttering her eyelashes. Normally, Harry would instantly said yes and praise his daughter with all the praises he could think of. But Harry sense there was something wrong. "Sweetie, I think you look a lot prettier without mommy's things though." Harry said gently as he carefully made his way through the mess. He knelt in front of Lily as the little girl shook her head forcefully. "No! Lily looks pretty with mommy's things! Mommy is pretty in these things" Lily said happily as she showed Harry Ginny's ruined makeup. Harry sighed and gently stroke her hair which he noticed as full of lipstick. "Lily look, I think we should get you cleaned up now before mommy comes home. She might make you look prettier" Harry said as he urged Lily to stand but Lily shook her head and wriggled away from Harry's hand. "Not yet daddy. I need to put more so I can look like mommy!" Lily said she crawled away from Harry.
She found another red lipstick and happily took the cover off. Harry observed warily as Lily tried to apply the red lipstick on her hair. Alarmed, He quickly picked up Lily and walked towards the bathroom where he placed the little girl on the sink. Lily protested as Harry took away the lipstick and turns Lily to face the mirror
"Tell me. Does Lily think that Lily is pretty?" Harry gently asked. He kissed his daughter's head as he watched her reaction to her reflection. Lily focused on her face and her smile slowly disappeared. Lily's face was full of red and white powder. Her eyebrows were scribbled crookedly and her lips were smeared with bright red lipstick. Harry saw Lily's eyes were tearing up so he hugged her gently to comfort her.
"Daddy.." Lily began to sob. "Daddy, Lily looks different" she turned to Harry and sobbed hard on his shirt. Harry held his daughter and stroked her hair gently as Lily cried out and rubbed makeup on his clothes. "Lily doesn't look like mommy at all!" Lily screamed as she cried. Harry's heart broke as Lily cried. Harry didn't care for the mess she made on the floor or one his shirt. Lily was really upset. He was not used to Lily being interested in girly things as she was, like her mother, a tomboy at heart. Her sudden interest in makeup made him worried and curious.
"Everything is all right sweetie" Harry said gently as Lily's cries began to quiet down. It took a while for Lily to calm down. Lily's screams turned to muffled sobs and soon, she was quiet. Harry gently lifted her and asked in whisper if she likes to take bath. Lily nodded and Harry carefully bathed his daughter on their bathtub. He washed away every speck of makeup from her face and hair as Lily sat quietly. She made some muffled sobs as Harry helped her out of the bath and dressed her in her favourite snitch sweatshirt and pink sweatpants. Harry looked back at the bedroom and thought of cleaning the mess later. Lily was more important than the bedroom.
Harry gently set her down on the floor, took her hand, and led her downstairs in the living room where Lily ran to sit on the couch and hugged her stuffed bunny rabbit which she left there earlier. Harry sat on the floor so he can look at Lily at her evenly. Lily looked at him with a sad expression while hugging her bunny. Harry smile and patted Lily's leg and took out a small mirror from the coffee table. He placed the mirror on Lily's lap and made sure Lily was looking at it.
"See? Lily loo is much prettier without mommy's things" Harry said softly as he rubbed Lily's hand. Lily frowned and shook her head. "Lily is not pretty" Lily said sadly. "Come on now love. Who told you that? Was it James? Or Al? Do you want daddy to give them a lecture on how pretty our little princess is?" Harry asked jokingly. Lily gave a small smile and shook her head. "Lily is not pretty because Lily is different from mommy and daddy and Jamie and Albie" Lily said dejectedly as she hugged her bunny tighter. "Lily's hair is very different from mommy's" Lily continued as she slumped back into the couch while tugging her auburn hair "Is that why Lily wanted to use mommy's things? Because Lily wants to look like mommy?" Harry asked softly. "Lily is different from everyone. Lily doesn't want to be different. Lily wants to be the same as mommy. Mommy has this thing which is the same as mommy's hair. Lily thought she can colour it to be like mommy's. Lily doesn't like this colour." Lily said tearfully as she pointed her locks. Lily buried her face into her stuffed doll. . Harry looked at Lily carefully. Truthfully, Lily does look a little different from her siblings. James' looks definitely has the weasely trait while Al is like a miniature version of Harry. Perhaps, Lily felt like she was left out of the family. Harry comforted his distraught daughter while thinking of a way to cheer her up.
Suddenly. Harry had an idea and ran upstairs. Minutes later, Harry was back with an old photo album on his arm. He plopped down beside Lily who looked at him curiously.
"Lily, there's someone you should see" Harry said excitingly as he moved closer to Lily. Harry placed the photo on Lily's lap. Lily looked at the photo and saw beautiful young woman with long auburn hair on a snowy day. The young woman in the picture waved at Lily and gave her a small kiss as she waved. The young man beside her also waved at Lily. The man had jet black hair and square rimmed glasses. Lily thought he looked familiar. "Daddy! This man looks like you!" Lily said in amazement and pointed out the young man who laughed as Lily pointed at him. "He does, doesn't he Lily loo?" Harry said appreciatively. "Who are these people daddy?" Lily asked as she touched the photo.
"That's grandpa and grandma potter Lils" Harry said. Lily looked at him in a confused expression. "I don't remember grandpa and grandma potter daddy. I know granddad weasley and grandma weasley though" Lily said as she cuddled closer to Harry. "They're my daddy and mommy Lily loo" Harry said as he stroke Lily's hair. "You see, grandma potter has auburn hair. She has small nose with boyish grin and small freckles on the face just like you Lily loo" Harry continued as Lily examined the photo.
"Where are they Daddy?" Lily asked as she turned to face Harry with excitement. "I want to meet them!" she exclaimed as she waved the photo at Harry's face. Harry patted Lily's cheeks. "They live in a special place Lily" Harry said sadly. "We can't go visit them?" Lily demanded with intense glare. Harry chuckled as she looked so much like Ginny when she does that. "We can't sweetie, they live far away unlike granddad and grandma weasley" Harry said as he pulled her to sit on his lap. Lily's face fell as he explained.
"Lils, Listen, you are different but that is not bad. You just look more like grandma potter" Harry said as he pointed at the photo. "In fact, you look so much like her that we even named you after her"
"Grandma's name is also Lily?" Lily exclaimed happily as she clapped her hands. Harry laughed and hugged his daughter. He made Lily turned her back on him so he can brush her hair. He brushed her hair gently and slowly braided it as he continued to talk "yes. Grandma's name is Lily and you look like her. You may be different from mommy and daddy and Albie and Jamie but you look exactly like Grandma potter. You even have her auburn hair" Harry said as he gently tugged Lily's hair at the end of the braid. "so don't be sad if you don't look like us Love. It is okay to be different. It doesn't mean we love you less than we love Albie and Jamie. Mommy and I are very much happy to see you grow up so beautifully like grandma potter. We actually hope you would inherent her abilities as well" Harry admitted as he placed the mirror back on Lily's hand. Lily looked at the mirror again. She gave Harry a huge smile and hugged him tight. "Thank you Daddy" Lily said as she hugged him. "Lily is now very pretty" Harry said as he hugged back and kissed her forehead. "Yes. Lily is very pretty cause she look like grandma potter who is also pretty!" Lily agreed enthusiastically.
Harry laughed as cuddle with Lily when she suddenly turned to look at him in the eye. "Daddy, you said grandma Lily had abilities? Like what?" Lily asked curiously and excitingly. "Abilities like… laughing!" Harry quickly tickled Lily by poking her sides to Lily's delight as she laughed hard while fending off Harry's fingers.
Lily was still laughing when the front door opened. James and Al went in with arms full of groceries. "Straight to the kitchen boys" Harry reminded them as they were looking for a place to put the stuff in. The boys grunted and carried the stuff to the kitchen. Ginny appeared shortly and locked the door.
"Is it me or do I hear my darling daughter laughing?" Ginny greeted as she made her way to the living room. "Mommy!" Lily greeted loudly as she hopped off Harry's lap and hugged Ginny's waist. "Hey there my beautiful baby" Ginny said she bent down to kiss Lily's forehead.
Harry got off the couch and walked towards Ginny to take the groceries that she was carrying. "Good. We have enough food to last us a whole year" Harry said brightly as he kissed Ginny's cheek. Ginny laughed as she picked up Lily. Harry took care of the groceries as Ginny played with Lily.
"Mommy. Mommy! Guess what!" Lily said happily as Ginny sat on the couch with her. Lily took the photo and showed it to Ginny with a proud expression. "I look like Grandma Potter" Lily said proudly. Ginny smiled widely as she look at the photo. "You sure do Lily loo" Ginny said as she cuddled with Lily. "You look so beautiful. Just like grandma" Ginny said affectionately. Lily smiled sheepishly as Harry entered the living room.
"Hey mommy" Harry greeted Ginny with low growl and kissed her softly. Ginny smiled mischievously while she cuddled with Lily. "Hello Daddy. Had a fun day?" Ginny asked as she gestured Lily's braided hair. Although the braid was a bit messy, Ginny thought Harry did a good job on it. "Mommy, Lily wants to go upstairs and show Albie and Jamie this picture" Lily said suddenly as she jumped off Ginny's lap and ran upstairs to the boy's room. "It was. Ran a bit of trouble but everything is good now" Harry answered Ginny's inquiry sheepishly. Ginny looked at him with worried expression in which Harry waved it off with an "I-will-tell-you-later" gesture. "How was your day?" Harry asked as Ginny leaned against Harry for a cuddle. "Let's just say next time, I plan on putting James on a leash. It was tiring looking for him in the sports section. He got excited on this muggle game called "football". He even got Al excited on the sport"Ginny complained as she put her feet up. "That's not bad. I can go ahead and teach them. I used to watch football before I went to Hogwarts. We can play on the front yard too." Harry said as he cuddled with his exhausted wife. "Great. James was trying to convince me to let him and Al go to the village and find some local boys to teach them. you are much safer." Ginny said gratefully and kissed his cheek.
Harry laughed as he rubbed Ginny's temple to ease her headache. Ginny talked about her nightmare shopping experience as Harry listened carefully, commenting now and then. Soon, Ginny fell asleep for bit on Harry's side as Harry watched a show on the television. Harry looked at his wife and smiled. He gently woke Ginny up and promised he would make dinner. Ginny looked at him gratefully and announced that she will be taking a nice hot bubble bath. Harry was about to suggest something when Ginny shot him "later" look and winked seductively as she disappeared upstairs. Harry smiled to himself. He should take days off more. He quickly made a mental note to buy a nice ball for James and Al to play with on his next day off. He got up and thought of what to make for dinner when screaming voice suddenly came down from upstairs.
"WHAT IN THE BLOODY—HARRY! " Ginny's voice boomed and Harry quickly ran upstairs to pacify his now angry and scary wife.